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Archive for December 2014

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko posted a message on his Twitter account that Ukraine got full control over strategic location in Chongar, a small village in Kherson Region located on the border with Crimea currently occupied by Russian Federation.

Russian Army built their checkpoint on a bridge connecting Chorgar to Crimea in March 2014, they also took control over hotel in Chongar. It was important strategic point for Russian Army as that would open straight road that would provide them land road connection to Crimea. Chongar is located on the road to Mariupol and Rostov-on-Don. Rostov-on-Don is the major Military base used to train terrorist groups that Russia sends to Ukraine. Russia failed to take control over Mariupol, but they moved half way from Russian border to Mariupol and were stopped at about 40 km from the city.

Today Ministry of Defense of Ukraine has reported that Poland sent 252 tons of humanitarian aid for Ukrainian Army. The total cost of the aid was about 3.5 millions of Euros. Ukrainian Army got rations, personal accessories: balaclavas, backpacks, t-shirts, gloves, towels, footwear, bags, etc. All aid received will be delivered to Anti-Terrorist Operation zone for the soldiers who are currently fighting on the front line.

Yesterday December 19 State Border Guard Service of Ukraine located in Bortnychi city got cars and other equipment for border guard units.

Maj.-Gen. Vasyl Servatyuk from State Border Guard Service of Ukraine and Head of Law Enforcement Section of US embassy in Ukraine Christopher Smith were presented on that event.

State Border Guard Service of Ukraine got technical help from US government

State Border Guard Service got 35 armored vehicles “VolkswagenAmarok” and “Toyota Land Cruiser 200″ and they also got 2300 sets ofprotectivegear. That was provided as part of international technical support project by US government. In 2015 Ukrainian border guards will get cars, thermal imagers, portable and stationaryradio stations and personal protective equipment in total cost of 10 million dollars.

The participants of this event discussed plans of further cooperation and gave the keys to the vehicles to border guard unit staff.

During his speech Maj.-Gen. Vasyl Servatyuk thanked Christopher Smith for the support provided by US government and assured that the vehicles will strengthen border guard units.

Christopher Smith said that cooperation will continue and State Border Guard Service of Ukraine will get experts support if needed and training base can be created based on one of the educational centers of State Border Guard Service.

State Border Guard Service of Ukraine got technical help from US government

State Border Guard Service of Ukraine got technical help from US government

The decision to temporally shut down airports in several cities in Ukraine was made by State Aviation Administration of Ukraine www.avia.gov.ua based on information that pro-Russian terrorists who control some areas in Lugansk and Donetsk regions could have “surface-to-air” missiles with attack range of 250 km (155 miles) and that could be dangerous for civil aircraft.

This information was reported yesterday by Security Service of Ukraine adviser Olena Hitlyanska during the briefing.

The decision to shut down three airports was made by State Aviation Administration of Ukraine based on information provided by one of the departments of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine regarding possible danger for civil aircraft in ATO (Anti-Terrorists Operation) zone. There was information that on the territory of Lugansk and Donetsk Regions there were “surface-to-air” missiles (“Buk”, “Pantsir” or similar) with maximum attack range of 250 km. So the decision was made to prevent situations similar to MH17.

Later same day State Aviation Administration of Ukraine published information on their website that the airspace in the are of Dnepropetrovsk and Kharkov airports is open again from 21:00 on December 15 2014. And all flights are resumed.

In order to provide security of the flights the airspace in the area of Zaporozhye airport will be closed till 06:00 December 20 2014.

After we analyze the information above, we come to conclusion that the only possible location where pro-Russian terrorist may have “Buk” missiles is the read area controlled by them near Mariupol. That’s the only place in 250 km range that covers Zaporozhye and doesn’t cover Dnepropetrovsk and Kharkov airports.

Possible “Buk” location near Mariupol

And if you check FlightRadar24 you can see that the flights to other airports has been really resumed, and flight Z61/UDN1 by Dniproavia from Kiev to Dnepropetrovsk is landing now.

Counter-intelligence unit of Security Service of Ukraine captured Russian citizen in Donetsk Region who came from Moscow. He illegally crossed Ukrainian border and was going to the territory controlled by terrorists in order to organize a group of people who would be fixing weapon.

In Russia this person was prosecuted for illegal weapon production. He got in contact with representatives of Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR) who arranged for him a meeting in Torez and Donetsk with the leaders of terrorists groups active in that areas.

One of his tasks was to make explosive devices and parts for weapon used by terrorists and to train few more people to do same job.

When he was captured he has a passport of Russian Federation citizen and a copy book with details of his plan to create armory in Donetsk. There was a list of contacts of DPR representatives, their nicknames, e-mail addresses and phone numbers of locals who have experience is saboteur activities and can work with machines.

National Guard of Ukraine already got five trucks equipped with “Multilift” automatic loading system. The vehicles can have three types of platforms that can load from 2 up to 30 metric tons. The use of such platform with reduce the loading and unloading time of vehicles and will minimize the human factor in the process.

Here is a video of such system in action.

During yesterday visit to the training center of National Guard of Ukraine the heads of the Ministry of Internal Affairs and Ministry of Defense observed the features of the vehicle equipped with “Multilift” automatic loading system.

Thanks to this system the BTR armored vehicle was unloaded in less than a minute and after that it was loaded with the same speed.

Specialists noticed that platform of the truck can be used in three different modifications. One of them is designed to transported armored vehicles, another one can be used to transport parts of autonomous mobile checkpoints and the third one can be used to transport any other cargoes. The range of the platform is from 2 up to 30 metric tons.

New truck for National Guard of Ukraine with “Multilift” automatic loading system.

New truck for National Guard of Ukraine with “Multilift” automatic loading system.

New truck for National Guard of Ukraine with “Multilift” automatic loading system.

New truck for National Guard of Ukraine with “Multilift” automatic loading system.

The President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko is visiting Australia right now and had a meeting with Prime Minister of Australia Tony Abbott. They have been talking on different subjects and particularly about energy cooperation. Ukraine needs to be more independent regarding the supply of resources for its Power Plants. Right now the country is buying some coal and uranium from Russian Federation, so as an option Ukraine is looking to buy those type of resources from Australia.

Just few minutes ago Poroshenko on his twitter account confirmed that Ukraine and Australia will work together in energy sector.

In terms of uranium and coal export to Ukraine, Australia is superpower. Energy security is extremely important for Ukraine. It is a great opportunity for both Australia and Ukraine – Tony Abbott

Tony Abbott also said that he has decided to provide support for the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the amount of more than $2 million.

Australia shares solidarity with the people of Ukraine. In recent months, we’ve been providing moral support and economic assistance for Ukraine – Tony Abbott

Poroshenko and Tony Abbott also talked about MH17 and the President of Ukraine has assured the Prime Minister of Australia that Ukraine does everything to investigate this tragedy and people responsible for that must be brought to justice.

In February 2015 Australian embassy will be opened in Kiev, so Petro Poroshenko invited Tony Abbott to visit Ukraine during that event. So far for Ukrainians to get Australian visa they had to go to Moscow.

Ukrainian delegation in Australia

President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko meeting with Tony Abbott in Australia

Tactical group of the 1st Marines brigade of ‪Mykolayiv went to the front line in ATO zone. And will be defending Ukraine in Lugansk and Donetsk Regions. The photos were posted by http://promir.info/?p=2075

Today President of Ukraine Petro Poroshenko came to the military airport in Chuhuiv city in Kharkiv Region. About 100 units of armored vehicles of different type and aviation was presented for Ukrainian Army. There were T-64BM “Bulat” tanks, T-64, T-72UA, T-72A, armored personnel carries BTR-3E, BTR-4E, self-propelled artillery 2C1 and helicopters Mi-8 and Mi-2. President personally inspected the vehicles and talked to the warriors. The Minister of Defense of Ukraine Stepan Poltorak also accompanied the President. December 6 is the Day of Armed Forces of Ukraine, so this is special day for every soldier who is fighting now protecting the country. All vehicles will be delivered to ATO zone to strengthen Ukrainian Army units fighting with pro-Russian terrorist who control some areas of Lugansk and Donetsk Regions.